Deutsche Bahn, Europe’s largest freight railroad, is to acquire the logistics arm of the PCC corporate group. The contracts were signed today by the Chairman of the Management Board of DB, Hartmut Mehdorn, Norbert Bensel, member of the Board responsible for logistics, and Waldemar Preussner, founder and owner of the PCC Group. With roughly 5,800 employees, revenues of EUR 350 million (2008) and an 8-percent share of the market, PCC Logistics is the largest private railroad company in Poland. PCC Logistics is comprised of several companies operating regionally and specializing primarily in coal, chemicals and construction material transports. The parties agreed not to disclose the purchase price. The acquisition has been concluded pending the agreement of the responsible authorities and antitrust agencies.

At the conclusion of the negotiations, the Chairman of the DB Management Board, Hartmut Mehdorn, said, "This purchase further extends our range of DB services for our customers  in a growing Europe. Poland is Germany's largest trading partner in Eastern Europe and Germany is Poland's largest export market. DB Schenker Rail, our freight railroad which operates internationally, and PCC Logistics will together put more traffic on the rails and thus secure jobs in Poland as well as in Germany. By doing so just when times are economically difficult is a sign of our sustainability."

Poland plays an important role in developing traffic along the trans-European rail corridors. It also has the second-largest national railroad market within the EU. Furthermore, Poland offers great potential for growth in rail-bound logistics offers for Polish as well as international customers. Norbert Bensel, member of the DB Mobility Logistics AG Management Board responsible for the Transportation and Logistics Division and thus DB Schenker, stated, "PCC Logistics operations are centered in Silesia while also operating efficient services to all economic centers in Poland. We want to develop PCC Logistics into the central pillar for Eastern Europe within our European network. As regards PKP we would like to stress that we will continue our existing cooperation consistently and in the spirit of partnership. We have worked well together in these past years.“